Friday, March 30, 2012

Passover is the day the Jews celebrate the saving of their firstborn and their deliverance from Egypt. But it also has importance for the Christian. Let’s study the Old Testament historical significance of the Passover from Exodus 12 and then “pass-over” to the New Testament and see it’s fulfillment in Christ.

- A LAMB WAS OFFERED ON PASSOVER (Exo 12:3). Jesus is the Lamb of God slain as a sacrifice and substitute for our sins. (John 1:29) The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

- THE LAMB WAS TO BE A MALE (Exo 12:5). Jesus is the Son of God! (Isa 9:6) For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given…

- THE LAMB HAD TO BE WITHOUT BLEMISH (Exo 12:5). Jesus was the spotless Lamb of God. (1 Pet 1:18-19) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things…{19} but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

- THE PASSOVER LAMB MUST BE A CHOICE LAMB IN THE PRIME OF HIS LIFE (Exo 12:5). Jesus was only 33 years old and in the prime of His life when He was crucified. (Luke 3:23) Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph…

- THE BLOOD OF THE PASSOVER LAMB HAD TO BE APPLIED ON THE DOORPOSTS AND LINTEL (Exo 12:7). A person must by faith come to Christ and receive the personal application of Christ’s blood for the forgiveness of his sins. (Eph 1:7) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

- THE PASSOVER LAMB OF GOD PROVIDES PERFECT PROTECTION FROM JUDGMENT (Exo 12:12-13). Jesus took our judgment so we would not have to suffer the wrath of God against sin. (Rom 5:9) …having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

- THE BONES OF THE PASSOVER LAMB WERE NOT TO BE BROKEN (Exo 12:46). After all the terrible beatings of Jesus it is amazing that not one bone was broken! (John 19:33) But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

The Passover is alive with prophetical reference pointing to our salvation in Christ. No wonder Paul spoke of CHRIST OUR PASSOVER. Is He yours? Make Him your Savior today!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

(Psa 118:24) This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Fridays. It’s the day of the week you usually look forward to. Just thinking about it keeps you going all week because Friday means the weekend is here! There’s even a popular restaurant named after this day of the week. (I don’t think “Mondays” would sell!) It’s hard to have a bad Friday. In fact every Friday seems like a GOOD FRIDAY. But there was one Friday in history that wasn’t so good. But after Sunday everything resolved and now this special day of the year is called GOOD FRIDAY.

GOOD FRIDAY is the Friday that Jesus was crucified. But looking back in the week we see that the Sunday before was Palm Sunday. It was the day Jesus came into Jerusalem on that donkey and the people sang Hosanna! That week He gave His last teachings to His followers. Then on Thursday night was the Passover meal with His disciples where Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper or what we call communion. That night in the garden of Gethsemane he was arrested by the treachery of Judas and tried before the authorities and mocked and beaten all night. Come Friday morning Pilate sentenced Him to be crucified. He was nailed to a Roman cross in the morning and expired that afternoon with the weight of mankind’s sins upon Him. Subsequently He was buried in a tomb.

But did anything happen the rest of Friday and Saturday? The Bible teaches that Jesus went down to Sheol (or Hades), the place of the departed dead. (Eph 4:9) (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? Luke 16 describes that the Old Testament afterlife had two compartments. One was the place of paradise (or Abraham’s bosom) and the other was the place of torments. Jesus went into the place of paradise (Luke 23:43) and preached liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18) by stating He would take them to heaven when He rose from the dead. (Eph 4:8) Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.”

And then Sunday! The Bible says Jesus arose before the sun was up (John 20:1). This is why every year many Christians hold Easter sunrise services to commemorate this event.

Think of all that Jesus went through for you on that horrible Friday. How horrific to behold the Son of God high on that cross. No wonder God allowed darkness over all the land that afternoon that helped to veil our Savior’s anguish! (Isa 53:5) But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. (Rom 4:25) who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. Now because of GOOD FRIDAY every day is a good day…not just Fridays!

Friday, March 16, 2012

(Rev 1:19) Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

Church history is a fascinating study. In it you will understand where the church did good and also where she has failed. There’s a lot of embarrassing information to process but Jesus said that His church would prevail! (Mat 16:18) There are many fine books on church history but I believe Jesus’ words to the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3 speak of the entire church age in succession:

EPHESUS - APOSTOLIC AGE (Before AD 100): The Loveless Church. The Church was laboring for Christ but evidenced a gradual cooling of love. Clergy/laity distinctions were beginning to develop.

SMYRNA - AGE OF PERSECUTION (100 A.D. to 313 A.D.) The Persecuted Church. This was the age of martyrdom, when pagan Roman emperors attempted to destroy Christianity.

PERGAMOS - IMPERIAL CHURCH AGE (313 A.D. to 590 A.D.): The Compromising Church. Here was the development of the church-state system that began with Constantine. This was the church possessing earthly power but decreasing in spirituality.

THYATIRA - AGE OF PAPACY (590 A.D. to 1517 A.D.): The Corrupt Church. This was the debased, political church of the Middle Ages. The Church introduced an idolatrous paganism that became a religious system that bore little resemblance to the New Testament church.

SARDIS - REFORMATION AGE (1517 A.D. to 1730 A.D.): The Dead Church. This time period saw the Protestant Reformation and the return to sound biblical doctrine. But the churches that were formed lacked spiritual vitality as many became institutionalized state churches.

PHILADELPHIA - MISSIONARY AGE (1730 A.D. to 1900 A.D.): The Faithful Church. The 18th and 19th centuries saw the modern evangelical movement, revivalism, worldwide mission movements, and a renewed expectation of Jesus' return.

LAODICEA - AGE OF APOSTASY (1900 A.D. to present): The Lukewarm Church. This is the apostate church of the last days and of which we are currently in. It’s the feel good church…high on entertainment and low on sound biblical teaching…a church anyone can come to…the word “sin” is not in…Christianity “lite” where it’s more about the cool than the cross!

From this overview we see that church history is really HIS-story of grace in saved sinners lives!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Daylight Saving Time (DST) was instituted in the United States during World War I in order to save energy for war production by taking advantage of the later hours of daylight between April and October. During World War II the federal government again required the states to observe the time change. Between the wars and after World War II, states and communities chose whether or not to observe DST. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the length of DST. DST was extended in 2007 by four weeks from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November. We know it as “Spring forward, fall back!”

But did you know the original Daylight Saving Time started with Joshua in the Bible? In Joshua chapter ten there is the story of the Long Day of Joshua. This is where Joshua prayed for more daylight so he could defeat Israel’s enemies in their southern campaign into the Promised Land. And guess what? God honored his request! (Josh 10:14) And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.

Different explanations have been offered as to what actually happened such as an eclipse, a comet or meteorite, a tilting of the earth’s axis, refraction of the sun’s rays, the presence of God manifested in light, etc. Perhaps the best explanation is that God caused the rotation of the earth to slow down so that it made one full rotation in 48 hours rather than in 24. This fits in best with Joshua 10:13b...“the sun...did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.” God would then of stopped the cataclysmic effects that would of naturally occurred, such as giant tidal waves and objects flying around earth. Day and night belong to the Lord (Psa 74:16).

Some scholars say that Joshua was asking that the sun stop shining, not that it stop moving. The long night’s march, largely uphill and with full battle gear, left his troops tired. According to this theory Joshua asked God to stop the sun from beating down on his troops before exhaustion overcame them. Therefore Joshua was seeking a cooler day, not a longer one.

God is not imprisoned by His own creation. He is able to use or suspend the very laws He built into it. It is okay for honest questions about the nature of the miraculous but there’s never room for questioning the reality of the miraculous. If we can’t believe that God can do anything (Jer 32:17, 27) then we have to do away with the inspiration of Scripture, the Virgin Birth, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, etc.

I have often seen how the Lord sometimes extends my day in the sense that I am able to get so much done. When I look back in the day I am amazed that the Lord compressed so much in a single day that I just have to give Him the glory. Then I think about the long day of Joshua and this wonderful verse: (Psa 84:11) For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly.

LOUE AND CHERYL MONTEITH

About Me

My wife Cheryl and I are missionaries to missionaries. We encourage servants of the Lord to keep on in their calling and to never give up. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.